Tata Nano to be sold by lottery
March 24, 2009 by Matt Brogan
To cope with demand, Indian carmaker Tata will sell the first 100,000 examples of its ultra-cheap Nano by lottery.
Application forms for the 100,000 rupee (A$2823.00) car will available in 1000 cities in India starting on April 9. A computerised random selection procedure will decide the owners of the first 100,000 cars.
The lottery system was decided upon because of the massive interest in the car, and production delays, causing an unprecedented demand.
Since the Nano was unveiled on January 10, 2008, Tata’s website for the Nano has received 30 million hits.
At the Nano’s commercial launch in Mumbai, India, today, Tata Chairman Ratan Tata said the Nano will provide safe, affordable, four-wheel transportation to families who currently cannot afford to own a car.
Nano deliveries will start in July with the four-door, five-seat Nano to be sold in India in three trim levels, standard, CX and LX (as pictured).
The top-of-the-range LX will have fabric seats, central door locking, front power windows, a cell phone charger point and a rear spoiler.
The Nano is powered by a 26kW, 624cc two-cylinder rear-mounted engine with a top speed of 105km/h.
Tags: tata nano
That’s ridiculous!
If I lived in India with their jams and crappy road conditions. This is THE lottery to win. At least there 2 cm of tin foil, not my children, between me and the traffic.
26 Kw @ 105km/h I wonder what Penny would make of the CO2 output when the 100,000 of them hit the streets??
Export market for our $3,000 bombs. They could probably make about 10 nano’s out of my old XE wagon.
Even if i had somehow was given tickets to this lottery for whatever reason possible and then i had won one of these cars, i would put it on a towtruck straight to the scrappers and PAY THEM to let me watch when the bring the big metal crusher upon it…
Necessity is the mother of invention. And this is a prime example of that. Tata have put together a car for only as few thousand dollars that looks good, is functional and much safer than having your kids stand on a petrol tank of a motor bike. Well done Tata.
Gee those seats look inviting!
There is clearly a market for this item, indians are patriotic and the Nano looks like selling up a storm, other makers have been asleep it seems.
Consider this, Tad bigger than the SMART car but only 1/15th the price, this was’nt meant to be a road rocket. It must be something for Bosses of German car makers to produce it.. Got all the things you need.. Obviously it aint for any country boy towing tons of hay around.. but for city guys like us.. it definitely gets the job done in very little.
Consider the options for this puppy : -
1. Buy a $2000 Nano
2. Buy a couple of Car Batteries instead of Petrol engine
3. Voila!! Your personal Electric vehicle for <$5000
Name me one other car you can do that with??? I read an article yesterday about Mazda 2 being converted into Electric.. Great Job.. But $90k for it??? Get real!!!
Electric cars have become the word of the mouth that these dumb car companies like to charge you the sky ($40k for Prius.. Get out of Town Toyota!!!)… And they wonder why people still buy small petrol cars..
This is the future!! (Modified with Airbags ofcourse)
so whats 1st prize?6 weeks in tennant creek.
Sounds like they haven’t even got a Nano factory built yet, then they have to sell a hell of a lot more Nanos than seems likely in order to generate the revenue to pay back the loans they took to buy Jaguar/Land Rover from Ford.
Fast forward to about 6 months from now to see if it all worked out.
What they haven’t said is that 1st prize is one tata Nano…. 2nd prize is two Tata Nanos…. 3rd Prize is 3 Tata Nanos…. etc
Us fat westerners wont fit in these.
Have they been built to withstand a tiger attack??
Imagine hitting a big roo at 105 ohhh.anti-spamword SMART
Fabric seats in the top shelf model….
Gee they are getting La-Dee-Dah arent they
This is a wonderful idea from TATA and it’s certain;y right for the developing countries in Asia. ( China India Thailand) It could even work as a city car or a car for those who recieve 3000 grand for getting their car crushed. But even though it might not come here, good on TATA for listenong to the woes of the consumer.
I want to see the Tata Jumbo.Be worth $4500 i reckon.and be tiger and roostrike proof.45kw 900cc engine in the front and 124km/h.Cool.
Heres a pic of the old model Tata Nano – http://www.sda-india.com/blogs.....-small.JPG
Sorry thats a pic of the old Tata Jumbo
Smart car – costs more than a Corolla and handles like a shopping car, also has only 2 seats. Still smart?
Tata Nano – fine effort from India coming up with $3,000 worth of practicality, but 4-speed manual and 3-stud wheels?
Toyota iQ – a smart car that’s really smart. Cute, seats up to 4 when necessary, handles relatively well, 5-star safety and ultra efficient for about $8,000. The only thing that can be dumb about it is if it doesn’t come here.
Some of the comments here are so bloody dumb! This isn’t supposed to be a car for the western world, it doesnt need to go 100km/h, it doesn’t need sport bucket seats and it doesnt need power windows.
This thing is BRILLIANT for India. LESS CO2 emissions than the mopeds used in India now, SAFER than the mopeds, SITS 4 – not 1/2 and can be used to transport goods. BRILLIANT. Shows why Tata is a mighty company on the rise.
It will be a lottery driving one!!!
Only Joking – but seriously keep it in India, there are too many cars elsewhere to choose from.
$2800 buys me a 7year old Vectra in the UK
Al Juraj – get me a Toyota Iq for 8k AUD and I will sign up right now ….
check the UK toyota site and you’ll see it’s starting price is 9,495GBP …
^^ forgot to add, the Yaris is priced from 8,995GBP … suddenly the Iq does not seem like a very good option …
lets put it into perspective …
Nano is meant for developing countries, for people wanting to buy their first car, or as a city run about …
It is not meant to be a fashion icon, like the IQ and Smart cars … this is a basic transport for the masses…
looks like a damn good car for the <3k AUD price tag.
wonder what the crash test rating would be like tho with that little crumple zone in front.
Somehow I do not see it leaving India, the legislation in Europe will probably prevnet it getting here or there due to losy crash worthiness and emissions.
All Aussie Highway patrol cars and general police cars should be replaced with Tata Nano’s.
I would rather own one of these than any of that Holden badged korean rubbish.
fisrt test drive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....w&eurl
As some guys here have aptly said it, it ain’t for going @ 100kmph, its a city car which seats 4 in relative comfort and with minimal fuel consumption; Made by a company that has always listened to the mass public’s needs not Profit, Profit, Profit!!! Needless to say its from the same company that owns Jaguar and Land Rover.. so expect a Diesel version for the European Emission Standards…
By the way it may make its way to Aussie. There is already a $4500 Nano Euro version in the works… Aussie emission laws are the BIGGEST JOKE in the Western Civilization!! so I don’t see why it won’t land here.. (Oh wait… Maybe cause it will destroy the current “Small Car Market” or if the Obesity levels are at record HIGH!!)
Brilliant idea… KUDOS!!
PS: For people wanting to know that only quality nuts and bolts went into building this car, visit: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/tat.....26-25.html
QUOTE Cupid………
It will be a lottery driving one!!!
Classic
Thanks Andrew. My warped sense of humour getting hold.
Subsequently I heard a bit about it on the Radio yesterday evening and can conclude that it going to make a great difference to the lives of many in India etc. I really cannot see it working out in countries that have higher standards of living. It is apparently aimed at the poor family who currently run the family of four around on the back of a motorbike. To access to boot you have to drop the rear seat. There is no radio, aircon etc etc. All Vbasic.
Cupid,
what i said earlier was just taking the piss too.
I also realise that this would be very purposefull in a country like india.
From what ive seen of Thailand it could turn into a big hit there too. Gotta be a bit safer than being driven in a Tuk-Tuk let alone the mass of bikes there too.
A tour guide warned us off of getting in a Tuk-Tuk.
He said first they turn left, then they turn right, then they turn over……….
Surely a good idea. It will work in India !
On the other side, i rather buy 500 tickets at Oneluckyeuro for a Maserati than buy a 1500 usd Tata.
What do you guys think ? IS TATA BETTER THAN MASERATI ?
LOL! If the luxury spec version comes with cloth seats, what does the basic version come with???? Vinyl? Ah well, at least they’re on the same luxury level as Wheelnut’s favourite 80s commodores…
I cannot see how this car will sell in any other countries but the third world countries. No one in the western countries would even bother with it. The car serves a purpose over there, and it will serve it well. One problem I’m wondering about is the space. It will obviously take a lot more space on the road than a bike… more traffic jams and so on…
Looks like ideas from the Honda Jazz, Daewoo Matiz and ’smart’ car were used as input into a car that costs less than a motor scooter over here.
Great idea for congested cities, could work on congested aussie roads with the usual one person per car as two Nano’s could almost travel abreast in one lane.